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Site review: The Great Canadian Scientists Website

Feeling a little low on the old national pride? Trying to remember the names of just five famous Canadian scientists to win a bet with a colleague at Columbia? Thinking of moving to the States because "you just can't get any recognition here"? Well, click on to the Great Canadian Scientists Web site, and you'll feel a bit better.

OK, so you're thinking, this site has nothing to do with my job search. Why is it on the Next Wave? Well, there's more to life than finding your next job. So take a quick break from the stress, and find out about other Canadians who achieved scientific greatness. Learn something about your country. And then play the Salmon Game--there are few things as Canadian as knowing the difference between a Chinook and a Coho.

When you visit the site, surf directly over to the profiles of selected Canadian scientists. You'll find it on the home page under "Slick Clicks." Here, you'll get a list of 20 Canadians who have made it in the world of science. Under "major achievement," you'll see that most of these were Nobel Prize winners. Who'd have thought we had so many! Clicking on a name will give you a brief bio of that person, as well as a photo. While on this page, click on "Reference Section," and you will be taken to a list of shorter entries on about 150 slightly less prominent Canadian scientists. This encyclopedic "Who's Who" of Canadian science includes people both living and dead who have made significant contributions to science. Is your adviser among them? Are you?

And that's that. It may not help you get a job, and it's not likely to challenge the intellect of a 5th grader, but, hey, if you're feeling down on the old Canadian pride, give the site 15 minutes. It'll help you get back to those experiments you've been procrastinating. Because before they were immortalized in cyberspace, everyone on this site started out looking a bit like you.